To Be a Ninja
by ThunderClouds7
Summary: The plot of this is basically that Mizuki wants to be a ninja and will stop at nothing to train with Taro, I'm really sure what else happens. Discontinued!
1. Chapter 1

"I will be a ninja!" she yelled, "And there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

"Mizuki…" her mother sighed, "How many times do I have to tell you? You're not going to be a ninja!"

"Yes I am!" Mizuki shouted, "I'm going to go and find the ninja keep and I'm going to train with Master Taro!"

"Mizuki…"

"No! You can't stop me!" and she ran out the door, her sandals flopping quietly. It had been Mizuki's life long dream to be a ninja. They were so silent and deadly, so unlike the so-called "honorable" samurai. She slipped out into the forest and began to walk, then she realized that she had no idea where to even _start_ looking for the ninjas, and she had run out of the house before she could gather proper provisions. _Real smart, Mizuki, _she thought, _Real smart._ But there was nothing she could do about it now, what's done is done as her mother like to say. So she just kept walking, hoping that she would stumble upon something. She didn't.

Taro snuck through the brush, his eyes locked on his target who was staring down a peasant with his katana raised. Taro had taken to hunting down ronin and other people how took advantage of people they were bigger than. Taro knocked an arrow and drew back, the feathers tickled his chin, he sighted and released. The string twanged as the arrow shot out and buried itself in the ronin's neck. Taro melted into the shadows as the peasant looked around for his savior.

Finally something happened. On the third day of Mizuki's travel she was suddenly surrounded by ronin. "Wow," she said, "That's sad. You need five burly, armed men to rob one unarmed little girl. You must be so proud of yourself."

"Shut it," the one directly in front of her hissed, "You're in no position to be insulting us."

"Yeah," the ronin to her left added, "We hold your life in our hands."

"Phht. I bet I could get out."

"Yeah right," the first one scoffed, "You said it yourself, you don't have a weapon."

"Maybe I was lying," Mizuki said even though she kind of _had_ been lying. "Maybe I really do have a weapon and it's just concealed."

"Yeah? Let's see it."

She reached in to the folds of her robe…

Taro saw the five ronin gang up on the small girl and crept in to intervene. He could tell that they were talking but couldn't quite make out the words. He knocked and arrow as the girl reached inside her kimono…

Mizuki pulled out the small dagger she had hidden earlier that day. The five ronin looked at the size of the blade and laughed as one drew his katana and advanced on her. She managed to block his first strike and she kneed him in the nuts as his sword was occupied with her dagger. He froze in pain and she shoved him away.

Taro stared at the girl as she put the first ronin out of commission. He certainly hadn't expected _that_. But now the other four were closing in on her. He shot five arrows out in rapid session then drew back into the shadows as the girl turned towards him.

Mizuki saw the arrows fly out of the woods to her right with deadly accuracy and knew they could only mean one thing: a ninja! "Hey!" she yelled as she ran towards the spot where the arrows had come from. There was no one there. Her eye caught a glimmer of movement up ahead. "Stop!" she called as she raced after it, "Please!" The person didn't stop.

Taro heard the girl yell at him to stop but he didn't, he didn't want her thanks, her praise, it meant nothing to him. He could hear her running after him, she was fast but not as fast as him. "Please!" he heard, "I want to train with you! I want to be a ninja!" that stopped him momentarily but he still kept going. She probably didn't know what it was she really wanted.

Mizuki slowed to a stop as the ninja continued running, tears blurring her vision. "Stop…" _Wait! Maybe if I follow him to his hideout he'll have to let me in!_ she started running again, feet pounding on the ground and blood rushing in her ears. The ninja was always just a fleeting shadow but she didn't lose sight of him. _I will be a ninja! I will, I will!_

Taro could tell that the girl was still following him but he knew that she would tire eventually. He _was_ impressed with her determination, maybe she would actually make a good ninja, but no, she really didn't know what it entailed. She probably thought they were something like the samurai. But they weren't.

Taro would've gotten away except that he had to stop and save another peasant, allowing the girl to catch up with him.

**Me: Please don't kill me if I misspell stuff or get the Japanese grammar stuff wrong. I don't have the book with me, I'm not an expert!**


	2. Chapter 2

Taro's downfall always was and always will be the fact that he has to stop and help the common person. And there in the clearing was a chance that he just couldn't pass up. There was a group of farmers, quietly attending to their crops, oblivious to the fact that there was a large group of ronin sneaking up on them. Taro knew it would be a mass killing and there was no way he could let that happen, even if it meant the girl chasing him caught up, he could always disappear again.

He stopped where the undergrowth was thickest and readied his bow

Mizuki saw the ninja stop and slowed down herself, she didn't know what was going on but she didn't want to blunder straight into it. She did anyways. She was so concentrated on the ninja that she kept walking until she was in the feild with the peasants and once more surrounded by ronin. _Not again,_ she thought.

"Idiot," Taro muttered to himself when he saw the girl unwittingly wander straight into the ronin trap. _Lesson one about being a ninja, kid, _he thought, _always watch what's going on in your surroundings._

"Well well well," said the lead ronin, "Look what we have here. A whole group of filthy peasants. This must be our lucky day boys."

The rest of his group nodded in agreement.

"There are too many of us for some _hidden assassin_ to kill us all with his sneaky little bow. He'll have to come out and fight us himself."

How the hell did he know? There was no way he could have seen Taro, he was to well hidden for that... maybe the ronin had heard the stories?

Suddenly the girl spoke up, "I'm sure there's no ninja out there. Last I heard, he's out somewhere to the south, fighting off some kind of tyranny for the people there."

_Even if you help me kid, I'm still not gonna let you join me. But thanks anyway._

The ronin didn't look convinced. "Really?" he asked skeptically, "And who did you hear this little tidbit from?"

She shrugged, "The people around my village."

"Is that so? Can you tell us their _exact _words?"

She didn't miss a beat, "It was a few days ago, I don't remember exactly."

"A few days ago? Hm... that's odd. 'Cause just yesterday five ronin were killed, by _arrows_."

The girl paled slightly but still plowed on, "Maybe it was somebody else trying to use the other ninja as cover so that they wouldn't be suspected and could get away with it easier."

"Maybe there's a whole _slew_ of ninjas," the ronin said sarcastically. He drew his sword and his fellows did the same, "I'm done talking about this. Come on men, let's finish 'em."

_Ah shit,_ Taro thought.

_I'm an idiot,_ Mizuki told herself, _A great big smart-ass idiot._ The ronin she had been stalling was moving towards her with his katana drawn. His followers were drawing there's and moving towards the other peasants in the clearing who had stopped their harvesting to watch what was going on. She pulled out her small dagger, _I should have gotten a bigger weapon, just another reason why I'm a idiot._ The ronin laughed at her weapon the way the other had but he soon stopped when she stapped him in his gut through a hole in his armor. "You should really get that fixed," she told him.

Mizuki looked around at all the others who had their swords at a peasant's neck and knew that she was lost. "Goddamnit ninja!" she yelled, "Get out here and _help_ me!"

The trees to her left rustled and a black-clad figure stepped out from them.

_I am probably going to live to regret this,_ Taro thought, _But what the hell, I'm not gonna let all these people die._ The girl's eyes widened with surprise and delight when she saw him.

"Let's do this," he said as he drew his short sword and the ronin withdrew their katanas from the peasants' necks and started towards them.

"Hell yeah," the girl agreed.


	3. Chapter 3

The ninja was out in the open and Mizuki could see that he was smaller than an adult, a teenager maybe? He was only about a foot to her left and they were advancing on the ronin together. _This is so cool! I actually get to fight with a ninja!_The ronin looked a bit nervous, they knew what a ninja could do and now there was one challenging them. The first ronin struck to the right, figuring that Mizuki would be weak and that he could force the ninja into defending her and then one of the other ronin could get him. It didn't quite work out that way. He got kneed in the stomack and the hilt of the blade came down on his head, knocking him out. The rest of the ronin weren't so eager to attack after that. "Not bad," the ninja said, "Not bad at all."

Mizuki grinned, maybe he would teach her after all. The ninja cut the guts out of the second and with a quick reverse movement the throat of the third. Mizuki had gotten behind another one and wrapped her arms around his thick neck, she threw him at one of his allies, they collided and smashed into a tree. Five down, five more to go. But when she looked for her next target they were all down, bleeding on the ground. "You're not going to run off again, are you?" she asked the ninja.

"I might."

Mizuki couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "But you can't. I ran away from home to come and find you."

"Me specifically or just the ninjas?"

"That depends on who you are."

"Who are you looking for?"

"Taro."

Taro looked at the girl. She was looking for him apparently. She didn't know that she actually was talking to the person whom she wanted to meet. "Why do you want him?"

"I want him to train me."

That kid was bold. She chased after him, wouldn't let him go and she wanted to be trained by him, and she was barely thirteen. "Alright," he said slyly, "Maybe I can take you to see him." He would use this journey as a test to see if she was worthy.

"Really?" her face was glowing.

"Yup."

"Great! My name's Mizuki. My mom doesn't think that I can be a ninja, she actually despises them. But, I think ninjas are cool, people say that samurai are better 'cause they're so "honorable" but they really aren't, just look at all ronin. Ninjas are so cool, they're all silent and deadly."

Taro grinned to himself; the girl, Mizuki, had great energy, it would be useful in a fight but she would have to learn how to contain it. "Key word: silent. Especially if you're trying to move around undetected."

"Right. Sorry." She shut up.

They moved back into the forest and towards the mountains where the ninja complex was housed. Taro could tell that the girl was buzzing with energy but she was containing it, channeling it into noticing every little thing. Taro had to admit that it was impressive.

Mizuki felt that she could bounce to the moon. The ninja was taking her to Taro! She could hardly believe it. Who else got this chance? A chance to travel with a ninja and learn their secrets. "So what's your name?"

"Um... Shusaku."'

"How long have you been a ninja?"

"A few years."

"To you like being a ninja?"

"Of course. It's the best."

"Is it hard?"

"Is what hard?"

"Being a ninja," she said in a 'duh voice'.

"Sometimes. What's with the interegation?"

"I'm curious. Is that such a crime?"

"No, I guess not."

They were slowly making their way onto the main road. "Why are we on the main road?" Mizuki asked, "Isn't it a little exposed?"

"It'll be quicker this way."

"But I thought you liked to stay in the shadows. Not many people like ninjas, isn't this kind of asking for trouble?"

"In a way."

"So why are we doing it?"

"Because I said so, that's the only reason you should need."

"Still..."

The ninja halted to look at her. Mizuki looked back at him stoutly. "You're traveling with me under my supervision. You do as I say and you don't question it. Got it?"

Mizuki sighed, "Okay." She would prove that she could do it, do whatever he said, do whatever it takes. But she wouldn't allow him to tell her what to do all the time. If something absolutely did not make sense, she would speak up. But she didn't know what went on in a ninja's head so she would stay quiet on the thing about the main road. She still thought it was a bad idea though.

_I'M GOING TO BE A NINJA!_


	4. Chapter 4

The days were beginning to grow shorter and colder as Taro and Mizuki traveled deeper into the mountains. They saw less and less of the animals that usually dotted the hills and they began to see more and more frost on the ground in the morning. The sky was swollen with snow and Taro knew it wouldn't be long before it fell and blanketed the land in white. He hoped they would be able to get to their destination before it fell.

Mizuki shivered through her robe, "Are we almost there? I don't like the cold."

Taro couldn't help but smile at her ability to say exactly what was on her mind, "I think we're getting close."

"You _think_?"

"Well it's not like I can just pick up a map and figure out exactly how far away we are. A ninja hideout isn't something you would find on your typical peasant map."

She sighed heavily, "But you've traveled too and from it _before_, haven't you? Shouldn't you have picked up how long it takes by now?"

"Uh, we're going by a different route."

"Right," she yawned, "Whatever. We get there when we get there."

They walked in silence for the rest of the day. There really wasn't anything to say other than pointless words that just made for akward silences. They stopped for the night in a cave, Taro built up a fire and cooked a caught rabbit. They ate in silence and lay down to bed with only a 'good night'. Mizuki went to sleep almost instantly, she was tired out from the day's walk. Taro lay awake for awhile, wondering what he would do when they got to the hideout and how he would explain Mizuki to the others. Finally he was so jittery that he had to get up and walk it off. He started climbing further up the mountain to see what there was to see so he didn't see the dark figures creep into the cave where Mizuki slept and out again with a still form suspended between them.

Taro made it to the peak and turned around just as the figures disappeared into the forest once more. He sat down, he was in no hurry to get back to the cave where only confusion waited. Besides, it was quieter up there, more peaceful with the thinner air and the breeze and shifting of the trees... he wondered why he didn't do it more often, just go somewhere to sit and contemplate. He fell asleep.

He started awake just as the sun was starting to tint the horizon as he remembered the fact that he had left Mizuki in the cave. What if she awoke? She might assume he had abandoned her and wander off somewhere? And, he had left her unattended last night? What if something had happened? He hurried down the mountain, disregarding care in his hurry. Dirt shifted beneath his feet, threatening to dump him to the ground. He slipped at the bottum and skidded the last few feet. Then he saw the footprints left carelessly in the dust the night before. He glanced into the cave, hoping that his worry would be for nothing and that Mizuki would still be there but his worries were not for nothing; Mizuki was gone. _Uh oh, _he thought to himself.

Mizuki woke up tied to a tree, one of its knots digging into her back. She squirmed to try and relieve the pressure. She was still half asleep so she thought it was only a rock, when she could not move her mind bolted awake and she immediatly began to struggle, earning herself a rock pegged into her head. She glared at the thrower, a man sitting next to a dying fire. "Who are you? Where am I?"

"I was sent to find you," he said, his voice reminded her of a snake, "You made some people back home very worried."

"I'm not going back," she said definatly, "You can't make me." She looked around the camp. There were three other men, all of them watching the scene with a kind of bored intrest.

"I can't?" the man stood up, "I'm not the one tied to a tree, you are. I'm not the one who's out numbered and out matched, you are. So I appear to be the one holding all the cards so yes, I think I can make you go."

"I'm not going," she said again.

"You don't really have a choice." Then he knocked her out, tied her to his horse like a sack of potatoes, mounted himself, and rode off, back towards Mizuki's hometown and back towards her very displeased mother.


End file.
